Well, obviously the answer is none, because mechanics are commonly called “artists”, chefs are called “artists” and the other day, I think it was a politician that a journalist noted is really an “artist” of politics. Anything can be called art until you are the one doing it – then nothing you do can be considered art.

And, never assume that any art or design at all needs to be created for the term “artist” to be bestowed upon someone or something – as long as they are not actually creating art.

It is also, neither the amount of work done, the training to be able to do it well, the efforts for some number of years to market your art and designs, nor the number of years doing it in aggregate.

But it is also not the value nor the quality of the artworks or design either, because right now – it is trendy to have a style that is severely more amateurish than ever before and if you are not producing that – then you are still not “an artist” or a “designer”.

At one time, having a body of work that you have created in art and design was enough to be a calling card that established proficiency and merit at least in claiming the term, artist or designer.

But, now that the internet is so encompassing and the merits of everything so fleeting for the next new thing, that body of work isn’t even required and in fact, may be more of a reason for business backers to not want to invest. It defines nothing of merit that says the skills are there and the works have been done.

Everything is simply about marketing and what the market wants at the moment and whether any of the things you’ve created or designed can fit the trends of today and next week. But, what if you are an American artist and designer with a body of work that proves it to be the case, and have been investing years of study and sacrifice and effort into creating those skills, artworks and designs? Then what?

It might mean something – and there might be a market for it – that is all it means. You still can’t call yourself an artist or a designer unless you are really doing something that has absolutely no relationship to art or the product of art or design – like baking, or being a heating and air conditioning repair person, or a pilot, or a mathematician or only God knows what – or a gardener, or a landscaper (but not a landscape designer, they can’t be called a “designer” in a social context.) It has been bizarre like that for years.

And, people will tell you – just don’t give up, your work is really, really good. And, they’ll say, you just need to sell it and for more people to know about it, but nobody wants to be bothered with seeing it, the excitement of creating it isn’t very exciting to the people who might want to own it and they don’t want to be bothered watching it be created either – especially since it isn’t a funny cat video.

Maybe I just need to do a cat video.

No, I’ve made some cat videos and they were not all that entertaining. Creating art could be more entertaining than the videos I’ve made of it, but it is hard to even want to do that when I already have thousands of artworks I’ve created and designs I’ve made over years and years of creating this body of work – and can’t even realistically call myself an artist because I totally suck at marketing.

And now, people want things that are vastly different with lots of white space, done by somebody in their twenties, not necessarily time consuming or intensely skilled products from it and a style that happens to be trendy at the moment. How do I even tell people about the art I have done or that I could do when there is simply no real way to show it to them or tell them about it where they want to see it and know about it?

I’m sharing this with you to try and help myself think about all of it in more expansive terms rather than as closed off as I feel right now about my work and its opportunities to find the right place in the markets and in the world.

I like it when people buy my work and own it as the special piece in their home or office or vacation house. I like that. If I understood better how to share it with them online and in person – would that be enough for people who might want it and appreciate my art and designs to see them?

One of my little art cards with an ocean painting on it, called Baby Crickets – collectible and each one is a hand painted original work of art. Some of them have been used as designs on my Zazzle store at CricketDiane and Cricket House Studios Art and Design.

cricketdiane, 05-11-2018

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About CricketDiane –

I’ve been creating nearly every day since I was a kid and that is over 50 years. I’ve created in numerous ways in a range that moves from art to problem-solving to inventing, creating music, sculpting and painting to writing and doing various computer / online based projects.

“It is better to make the effort to move forward and release the flow of ideas to work with them and do things creatively, create things and invent and write and make – I definitely know that by experience.” – cricketdiane, 2018

Made this tonight using a photograph of my watercolor palette. I’ve been photographing and creating designs today, writing on my blog and designing the new blog pages about inventing. Still working on organizing and cleaning at my Dad’s house – will be making some short videos about how to organize absolute clutterholic messes later tonight, I hope. From disorder to organized – yeah, that would be good. I’ve been working on it for four months so far and it is far from finished but much farther along than it would’ve been if I’d never done any of it. That’s good, I suppose.

1. Go through the house, office and studio – sharpen every pencil – make sure anywhere with a writing surface has a cup of pencils, pens and an old-fashioned hand held kid’s pencil sharpener. Place some sheets of clean, un-lined paper nearby, plus posty notes and 4×6 sheets of unlined paper to make thumbnails and notes.

2. When paint tubes are near their end, cut them open and use the last of the paint directly from the casing or scape out with palette knife and use from the palette. Save the lid, cause sooner or later . . .

3. Place paint cloths, paper towels and cloths filled with thinners or turpentine into old metal coffee cans with lids. Keep out of reach of children and away from foodstuff until ready for disposal. Be sure and mark can with red electrical or paint tape and label with marker what it is.

4. A piece of rubberized, textured shelf liner cut 4″ square is good for opening paints, paint jars and tubes, jars of medium and varnishes. Pliers, if used, must be held firm but with gentleness or they can rip the paint tube and press the lid and tube lip beyond recognition.

5. Baby wipes will take almost any paint off hands including oil paints, acrylics, alkyds (which are very nasty) and acrylic mediums – as well as some glues. Masking fluid can be cleaned up with dawn dish soap and a baby wipe. Brushes dipped in dawn dish soap and water before use in masking fluids will allow the masking fluid to be removed after use.

6. Dawn dish soap will take oil paints and other paints, except alkyds, off hands and out of brushes. Xylene and toluene based enamels must have their own thinners to be removed from anything. Do not use dawn dish soap or toluene based thinners on natural bristle brushes because the natural oils in the hairs are also removed and the bristles will eventually disintegrate. Do not leave brushes in water, turpentine or thinners for any extended length of time. Glues that hold bristles can dissolve and are compromised. The bristles will then release in the painted surface as it is being created. The bristles can also give way entirely from the metal casing that holds them to the handle..

7. Old brushes with dried paint make perfect tools to create certain special effects in painting surfaces. Don’t yell at the kids and don’t throw them out. Set them aside in a cup or box with similar tools for special effects when painting and sculpting.

8. When stores go out of business – there is a lot of unusual shelving they also sell – make them an offer. Also, hair salons’ shelving and store displays make good additions for studio storage. Cabinets from kitchen remodeling can be acquired and cleaned, resurfaced, painted or glued with new formica pieces. Countertops can be added pre-made from the hardware store or from cabinet shop remakes. Any solid door or old table top can be placed on top of several cabinets for a worktable.

9. Some design markers (professional grade like ad agencies and illustrators use) can be reconstituted by placing alcohol or acetone (nail polish remover) into a shallow dish and placing the tip into it to absorb the carrier. Some art markers can be reconstituted with water, alcohol (or mineral spirits and/or painting mediums). Use of pigments are available in a new form with the latter and are no longer appropriate for children to use.

10. As new work is being created or experimental ideas are being explored, take digital photos or scans throughout the process at different stages. Viewing them on the computer gives a better view and a different understanding of what is being conveyed in the paint. Then, the process can continue with the additional information during the creation of the work.

Standing At The Threshold About To Create –
By Cricket Diane C Phillips, 2008

When I stand on the threshold about to create – entire universes stretch out before me.

Behind me is everything I’ve ever created or wanted to create. Before me is everything that could be created. To either side is everything that exists which has been created by someone already both historically and currently.

Above me are all the things and ideas that have existed only as possibilities and have yet to be created. And, below the edge of the threshold is everything that exists now somewhere.

From the vantage point of this moment in time standing on the threshold about to create, any combination can be made from what is beyond it. Sometimes I choose a goal before entering this threshold because I intend to create something for a particular person or situation and want it to suit that.

To me, the threshold of about to create is like an open door frame standing in the midst of infinity. It is an infinity that moves out in all directions and is filled with possibilities, knowledge, skills, ideas and tangible things already created somewhere, sometime by God, nature or someone. It is all available for me to utilize or create or combine into something new, or rework, refine and modulate into my own creation.

I do usually start with a purpose but not always. And, where some may go timidly over that threshold, I love to stand on the threshold encompassing it all then fling myself into it. I take a leap of flight into that place and soar through its realms.

I love flying through the elements that are there, choosing from them, considering elements that catch my attention and weaving what is being created as I go. I don’t forcibly keep my goal in mind but it is there and I don’t exclude anything. It is all available regardless of my mind’s constraints of limitations and resources.

This means that whether I have the means to acquire something or not doesn’t matter – it is still available for me to use in the creative process. I don’t exclude things because of limitations currently in my life. Anything can be acquired if its really needed to accomplish creating something.

Some people strive within their limitations to accomplish and to create. They exclude what is beyond this threshold that cannot be accommodated by their current means to acquire it. Usually that is whole worlds of things and believe me, it is an unnecessary constraint. I ignore my limitations of known quantities that are currently in my life and offer everything to the creative process without limitation.

Truth is, I can probably get my hands on it if I need it to work with anyway. There is no project too big, too complex or too out of reach to consider. I don’t feel I have to make and original and unique creation of my own exclusively. Mostly I do, but it is not limited to that and it isn’t a requirement of the process.

What I do is to fly through these infinite worlds beyond the threshold and test, play, choose, combine, study, consider and add together like things and unlike things until I’ve created something that suits my purpose. So, the purpose that brought me to the threshold does define what is being created but it isn’t required to have that definition. It can be done without form or definition set ahead of time. I love doing this too when I have no purpose in mind and want to free-form create. What is done in this process may become a painting, an idea, a writing, a musical composition, an invention, a situation or a project but it does beome an end result that is tangible.

I can set parameters and conditions if I want like, “I want something that will do this,” or “I want some things that will suit this or this person.” The process will use that variable to compare and work with everything beyond the threshold as I create. When I happen upon something that doesn’t fit that parameter, if it has taken my notice – I grab it too and bring it with me. I don’t try to figure out how it fits or whether it belongs to some other project or need I have. Later, it usually becomes obvious without me setting my mind on figuring it out or sorting it out to where it belongs.